[JJemail1]

For those of you who have been following my "Another DYFS Nightmare" thread, following is the third (of 3) bills I penned as a result of losing our precious FS. This one was tricky because NJ, like most states, does not consider fetuses people. However, after some research, I was able to mirror an argument from the first ever conviction of a woman for exposing her baby to drugs.

Below is my draft. Again, your comments and input are appreciated!


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A Bill To Be Entitled
An Act to Prosecute Women Who Give Birth to Drug Exposed Newborns

Section 1: Prosecute women who give birth to drug-exposed newborns for delivering a controlled substance to a minor
A) Drug metabolites passed from a mother to her newborn child through the umbilical cord immediately after birth will constitute the delivery of a controlled substance to the child
B) Encourage early intervention in pregnant women addicted to drugs to reduce harm to fetus.
C) Reduce the number of special needs children who will require additional services and government assistance.
D) Expedite adequate care and early intervention for newborns who have compromised nervous systems and risk for developmental delays due to drug exposure.
E) Encourage family, friends, and citizens to report women who use drugs during pregnancy
F) Reasonable efforts to reunify women who expose their children to drugs will not be required under NJSA 30:4C-11.3

Section 2: This will be instituted in New Jersey

Section 3: The bill will be active 90 days after it is passed.

Section 4: It is the responsibility of New Jersey hospitals to report all drug-exposed newborns to local authorities and The Division of Youth and Family Services.

[eightnotenough]

I think it is very good, as the Foster mother to a drug exposed infant I was curious how you found out how to write this I would like to do this in my state. which is IA.

Good luck.
Lori

[JJemail1]

Hi Lori,

Thanks for your encouragement. To learn how to write a bill, I simply did a Google search with the key words "how to write a bill." To my surprise, it's quite easy! (Although, there are so many websites that it is a little overwhelming at first.) The hard part is doing the research to figure out how each bill can be implemented in your respective state and if it counters any laws already in place. I'm still researching to polish up my drafts before soliciting them to NJ congressmen/women.

I created the verbiage myself but a lot of it is just common vernacular associated with the issues my bills address. You can acclimate yourself with the terminology used for your issue of interest by searching the web and reading other bills already in place (again, by Google searching).

I hope this helps! Feel free to borrow or build from any of my drafts for your own state!